Strikes in France and Germany

In Germany, members of the union ver.di are on strike. The action affects several airports as well as other public sector operations (e.g. public transport, kindergarten).

Passengers at the airports of Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and Bremen have to expect massive delays and cancellations. Flights of AUA and Lufthansa have been cancelled. Some other German cities, like Berlin, are also facing problems.

Lufthansa published respective information on its website. You can check online if or when your flight will be operated. Lufthansa offers to rebook to alternative flights free of charge or to change your ticket for flights within Germany to a rail ticket.

Important note: If your flight is part of a package travel, your contact person is the tour operator. If you only booked a flight, you have to contact the airline. Find out more about your rights at the end of this article.

03.04.2018:

In France, employees of the national rail company SNCF as well as the airline Air France are on strike. Therefore, massive cancellations and delays are happening. Our colleagues from ECC France inform.

Rail

The strikes of SNCF are planned between 03. April and 28. June on the following days:

April: 3., 4., 8., 9., 13., 14., 18., 19., 23., 24., 28.

May: 3., 4., 8., 9., 13., 14., 18., 19., 23., 24., 28., 29.

June: 2., 3., 7., 8., 12., 13., 17., 18., 22., 23., 27., 28.

Good to know: It is not possible to buy train tickets for those days. The trains are displayed as "full".

On the website of SNCF, you can check whether your booked train will operate normally or not. The rail company promises to inform travellers about changes on the day before their departure.

Flights

Employees of Air France announced to strike on the following days:

3., 7., 10. und 11. April 2018

The airline plans to operate most of the flights on 3., but doesn't know about the other days yet.

Passengers can rebook free of charge. The information published on the website is:

Flight on 03.04:

Passengers with tickets purchased before 28.03. and valid for a flight with Air France or Joon on 03.04., can be rebooked to an alternative flight between 04. and 08. April.

If this option is not possible for you, you will get a voucher for a later flight with Air France, KLM or HOP! Flights.

Flight on 07.04.:

Passengers with tickets purchased before 01.04. and valid for a flight with Air France or Joon on 07.04., can be rebooked to an alternative flight on 4., 5., 6., 8. or 9. April.

If those options are not possible for you, you will get a voucher for a later flight with Air France, KLM or HOP! Flights.

According to the EU regulation on air passenger rights, you are entitled to claim a refund of your ticket price instead of rebooking, if your booked flight has been cancelled.

Your rights...

...as an air passenger:

In most cases, strikes are considered to be "extraordinary circumstances". Therefore, you are not entitled to any further compensation (except rebooking or refund of the ticket price). In case of doubt, the individual situation has to be evaluated.

Even in case of "force majeure", like strikes, the following applies: If you would arrive more than 60 minutes late at your destination, the rail company has to offer to either refund the ticket price or to rebook you to another train. If you choose rebooking, you are entitled to compensation.